The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-12-28
The Law of Married Women.

Section /. All conveyances, mortgages ant
like formal instruments of writing. nfectint
woman, shall be effectual to convey or charg,
her separate estate, whenever the intention
so to convey or charge such separate estate
is declared In such conveyances. mortgage
or other instruments OF writing.
Section l. That all the earning and income
OF a married woman shall be her own separate
estate, and shall be governed by the same
provisions OF law as apply 10 ner o'her sep"
Under its provisions married woman enI
IDENTIFY has no power to bind even her sepa
rate estate by simple contract: 10 eueet tn's
purpose she must apply to lawyer and nav,
q mortgage or other like, formal instrume,
drawn up In which must be set forth expires
" her Intention 10 bind her separate pro
erty. .,.o, r,.rr,ed won,,r
No mower to contract generally. She cannot
bind herself as surety for any one lnlS
is unfortunate for several reasons. Frst; tn.
separate estate now Is avery different thing
iron the separate estate that existed twenty
five years ago. In fact, many or the heSt me,
in our country having been brought lace u
face OF late years with so many violent chang,
es. have found 1t necessary to invest their
wives with all their property IN order 70 KeG,
an foot so as to discharge their Liabilities IN
these cases the so.called separate estate IS M M
only estate that there Is, and to deprive tne
family Of 1t as a basis Of credit Is certainly
not the part of statesmenship.
In the second place, suppose tne nusoatu
does exercise lnQlNluudl "'St
wifes Can any valid reason be assigned Wny
she should not help forward MS enteIPrisssI s
when by no doing she must necessarily al
vance the prospects OF the famliyI, s,,,rs .,
married woman now concerns every farmer
merchant and business man In the country
The people should take the matter IN hano'
-Hinns6oro Netrs and Herdtd
None are so blind as those who are deter
mined not to see and 1t may be that the Su'
preme Court will yet refuse to see that thi>
law Is merely explanatory OF the eXistin.
statute, which Is, and has been all along
plain to one-third OF tina Supreme Court, to
every member of the Circuit Court, TO nine
tenths OF the lawyers OF the State. and to
nearly every layman who understands plain
English.
No law Is repealed by The above quoted act
and 1t would seem to uI, that the Intention
was merely to explain 10 the Supreme Court
the meaning Of the existing statute which the
Court had misconstrued.
It is said Of Chancellor Job Johnstone. ol
Newberry, that Northern writer set him
down az one of South Carolina's great men,
and to prove the assertion, cited the fact that
he on Circuit ruled one way, and that when
the case came before the Court of Appeals. ev-
ery member of the Court sustained his ruling
or Judgment on the eCircuit-excepting only
himself BE upon reflection became con-
vinced that he was in error, and therefore rem.
dered dissenting opinion from Judgment
which he himself had made on the Circuit.
When the historian goes to prove that the
present Supreme Court Is composed entirely
of great men, he will have to cite other cvi-
denco 10 prove their greatness, as at present
~. L. oad hou cd that
exalted greatness which would enable them TO
correct their own errors. They have said 1.-THE
horse was sixteen feet high," and they'll stick
to 1t. SEQ If they don't, even in face Of the re
cent Act OF the Legislature, as above quoted
which, doubtless, was passed for their especial
benefit